This workshop is intended as a practical introduction to network music performance. Both technical and musical topics will be discussed, including: history of the field, Internet technologies for streaming, control messages and laptop performances, transcontinental high-quality network performance, performance issues like delay and presence, installations and synthesis in the network, future and potential as a compositional medium, programming techniques and software survey, virtual worlds in musical network performance.

The goal is to give participants a practical grasp of this upcoming trend, with musicians performing habitually from separates parts of the country and the world in a not-so-distant future. Travel for rehearsal and performance will be less important. Concerts will be held routinely in several venues simultaneously. Recording, composing and performing will be done with people you have never met. We will discuss how to fine-tune the network and software specifically for musical purposes. The correlation of physical and acoustical distance in this medium and what it implies for musical performance/composition will be analyzed. Commercial tools to perform from home will be showcased. We will “remote-control” musical instruments like Disklaviers mechanical pianos. We will learn how to use popular computer music programming languages (SuperCollider, Pd) for interconnected music. Software design techniques and synchronization will be explored though hands-on experiments. Depending on interest and time, visual score programing (Pd, Processing) will also be featured. We expect participants to leave with an embodied sense of network performance to with the skills use and design their own systems.

This workshop is intended for: Musicians, composers, programmers and technologist interested in performing with distant musicians, designing systems for the medium or composing with the network in mind. No music theory or technical skills background necessary, the workshop will put emphasis on the participants’ particular interests and goals.

Workshop structure: The schedule will be organized around morning lectures and afternoon lab and practical sessions. We will have access to CCRMA’s state-of-the-art stage, studios and computers to experiment and perform. Special sessions will be arrange with remote musicians. During the labs, participants will have the chance to experiment with provided tools and build on top of them.